Anglers brave cold to hunt for elusive big squid

Mike Tomkiel of San Clemente shows off the squid he caught Monday night off the coast of Orange County. Although thousands of Humboldt squid have been pulled from local waters in recent nights, this was the only bite anyone aboard the Dana Pride enjoyed Monday despite six hours of trying.JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SAN CLEMENTE – Two hours into a hunt for the recent bountiful Humboldt squids, Capt. Chris Pica slowed the boat about 600 feet off the coast of San Mateo Beach.

"OK, drop 'em," he called over the ship's public address system Monday night. "There are a ton of them about 120 feet down. We're floating right on top of them."

Eagerly, anglers sprang to the sides, stern and bow of the 95-foot Dana Pride and dropped their lines tied to fluorescent squid jigs into the heavy swell. Wind gusts rocked the boat, tipping it at nearly 20 degrees side-to-side. The water temperature was 55 degrees and the air was in the 40s.

The boat's lights illuminated the sea. Anglers waited for the bites. Nearby, a tiny skiff, which had shadowed the Dana Pride since leaving Dana Point Harbor, spread an eerie green light around it, hoping for some squid spill-off.

Suddenly, at the back of the boat, Mike Tomkiel let out a gleeful yelp when he felt weight on his line. His pole bent nearly in half as he heaved the first reddish, tubular looking beast on board.

Confident that this was the first of hundreds more bites, the others waited for their moment of glory. Most had seen recent media reports of the squid fishing frenzy. Anglers nightly packed boats to take advantage of what seemed to be an unending supply of squid. The squid, weighing 5 to 20 pounds, were getting hooked just by dropping a line.

In just two weeks, nearly 15,000 huge Humboldt squid have been pulled from the waters off the beaches of San Diego, Oceanside, San Clemente, Dana Point, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. That's double the amount of squid pulled in last year around the same time.

The giant squid, found mainly in 200 to 700 feet of water off Mexico and California, are floating near the surface because – like whales and dolphins seen recently – they are feeding on an abundance of krill brought to the area by tidal flows. But it's anyone's guess when they'll be gone.

Pica knows this well. He's driven sport fishing boats for Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching for 25 years. He remembers the years when squid were bountiful, when they beached themselves, drawn by bright coastal home lights. The challenge of the job is what motivates him and keeps him coming back.

With his eye on the fish finder, Pica drove the Pride over deep canyons off the coast of San Clemente State Park. Spots that just a day before had yielded more than 1,600 squid.

Born and raised surfing in San Clemente, Pica is familiar with the canyons along the ocean's floor. The currents in the canyons are known to push up nutrients starting with plankton. The krill eat the plankton and then, Pica reasoned, the squid would chase the krill.

At each stop known to have harbored action in the last two weeks, Pica found tons of squid under the boat. The sonar in the wheelhouse pulsed like a heartbeat, becoming more rapid when lucrative bio masses were sensed near the boat.

For more than six hours, Pica searched out the most productive areas. He kept in close contact with captains from two Newport Beach-based boats, the Freelance and the Patriot, that had come down the coast toward Dana Point. An Oceanside boat, the Elektra, had also come north and was checking spots along the southern San Clemente coastline.

"The pressure's on," Pica said, after at least six spots at different depths off Capistrano Beach and northern San Clemente showed tons of squid below the boat but garnered no bites. "You just got to keep your cool and make it happen."

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Mike Tomkiel of San Clemente shows off the squid he caught Monday night off the coast of Orange County. Although thousands of Humboldt squid have been pulled from local waters in recent nights, this was the only bite anyone aboard the Dana Pride enjoyed Monday despite six hours of trying. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Mike Tomkiel of San Clemente shows off the squid he caught Monday night off the coast of Orange County. Although thousands of Humboldt squid have been pulled from local waters in recent nights, this was the only bite anyone aboard the Dana Pride enjoyed Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Anglers hoping to haul Humboldt squid charge their glowing lures as Capt. Chris Pica of Dana Wharf Sport Fishing ferries them from one fishing ground to another Monday night. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
CeCe Xue of Irvine strings a lure hoping to snag some Humboldt squid for a sweet-and-sour soup recipe Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Capt. Chris Pica offers words of encouragement to his boatload of anglers who had hoped to catch some Humboldt squid Monday night. Although thousands have been plucked from the sea in recent days, on this night the Dana Pride snagged a grand total of one. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Eager anglers from around Orange County ready for six hours of fishing for Humboldt squid. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Anglers hoping to haul in Humboldt squid wait for a bite that never came Monday night. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Cece Xue of Irvine, fishing for the first time, had high hopes of snagging some Humboldt squid for a soup recipe Monday. Although thousands have been plucked from the waters off San Clemente in recent nights, only one was claimed by the Dana Pride on Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Anglers hoping to haul in Humboldt squid wait for a bite that never came Monday night. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Capt. Chris Pica offers words of encouragement to anglers who had hoped to catch some Humboldt squid Monday night. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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